Exhibitions & Collections

Special Exhibitions

Richard Avedon: Family Affairs From the Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Opening April 1

Avedon’s striking fashion photography and minimalist, emotion-filled portraiture broke boundaries and, for nearly a half century, helped define Americans’ perceptions of beauty, politics, and power. This exhibition, for which NMAJH will be the only U.S. venue, unites two seminal bodies of work by the influential American Jewish photographer: a series of four portrait murals inspired by the revolutionary atmosphere of the 1960s and early 1970s, and a series of 68 portraits entitled The Family, originally published in Rolling Stone magazine on the eve of the 1976 election.

Sponsors (in formation)Major Support for this exhibition has been provided by:The David Berg FoundationThe Director's FundLynne and Harold Honickman

Additional Support:The Abstraction FundThe Robert Mapplethorpe FoundationAnnette Y. and Jack M. FriedlandGagosian GalleryConsulate General of Israel to the Mid-Atlantic Region

'Twas the Night Before HanukkahCloses March 1’Twas the Night Before Hanukkah explores the history of Hanukkah and Christmas music and the musicians, artists, and songwriters who wrote and performed them. The installation combines a cozy living room setting with modern technology to deliver a compelling story about the blending of American and Jewish musical traditions. ’Twas explores how performers used popular songs to shape the sounds of the holiday season, the soundtracks of religious holidays, and the musical standards we know today through interactive song and video platforms, as well as images of holiday-related artifacts from the Museum’s collection of 30,000 objects—all delivered on curated iPads accompanied by text and graphics of holiday celebrations.

The installation features well-known artists such as Irving Berlin, Benny Goodman, Bob Dylan, the Ramones, and Lou Reed, as well as Christmas gems by the likes of Jewish salsa giant Larry Harlow, and Jewish stage and screen icons Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson.

A holiday-themed self-guided tour highlighting holiday-related objects in the permanent exhibition will also be available.

This exhibition is a collaboration between the National Museum of American Jewish History and the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation.Photo courtesy of the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation.

Liat Segal: Scattered Light Now Open

Israeli artist Liat Segal makes her US debut at the Museum with Scattered Light, an innovative work of new media art. The piece weaves together key phrases from George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island affirming his commitment to religious liberty (on view at the Museum) with the reflections of Museum visitors collected from our It’s Your Story recording booths. Both Washington’s words and the contemporary commentary speak to the significance of religious freedom and to the continuing role we all play in its preservation.

Scattered Light pairs the old with the new through the use of a wand embedded with LED lights that move over a photosensitive surface, “printing” Washington’s words along with those of Museum visitors. The texts fade away over time, allowing new content to appear, creating an ever-evolving dialogue between history and the present.

Segal, who recently exhibited at the Venice Biennale, drew from her multidisciplinary background, including her past work as a researcher at Microsoft Innovation Labs and as a teacher at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, to create this installation.